


All Through the Night

by isabeau25



Series: Wump Bingo [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 08:04:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15068798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isabeau25/pseuds/isabeau25
Summary: After the battle at Naxzela, sleep is the last thing Keith wants.





	All Through the Night

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place right after the end of season 4.

Keith didn’t know how long he had been awake, and he didn’t really care.

Lotor was secure, or so Allura and Coran said, injuries were being tended by people who weren’t him because he had been kicked out of the triage rooms hours ago, there were no meetings going on. The castle was on night cycle, and Coran chased the team off to bed as soon as the lights had dimmed.

Keith had allowed himself to be herded along, then paced his small room until he could slip back out. If he stopped moving, his hands would shake and the world would tilt. If he closed his eyes, he could see the pulsing red of emergency lights and the flashing purple of the particle barrier, scaled like a snake ready to strike.

“I thought I put you to bed vargas ago.”

Keith started badly, stumbling and having to brace against the wall to stop himself from falling. Coran politely pretended not to notice.

“I’m not tired,” Keith knew he sounded like a child, but the idea of anyone seeing him wake up crying and screaming felt worse than the alarms that wouldn’t stop echoing in his head.

“Obviously,” Coran somehow managed not to sound sarcastic, although Keith still narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously.

“Since you’re awake, I could use some help,” Coran walked briskly by Keith.

“I…” Keith frowned at his retreating back, then hurried to catch up to him, “okay. What do you need?”

“Quite simple really,” Coran walked through a door into a room full of boxes, “we’ve taken on a great deal of supplies lately, and with all the fuss, we haven’t had time to log them into inventory. The castle thinks we’re running out of everything, but it’s probably all here.”

“You want me to do inventory?” Keith frowned at him.

This felt like a trap.

“Well, help with it, anyway,” Coran snapped up a tablet from its holder near the door, “we have so many people coming and going and using our supplies, that we really do need to keep track of what we have. It will be faster with the two of us.”

He steered Keith to a box sitting against the wall and handed him the tablet, “I’ll sort, you log.”

Keith looked down at the pad and found Coran had already switched it to english. The letters blurred together on the screen, and he rubbed his eyes. He could do this. If Coran was here rambling, that would keep him awake for sure. He had never been very good at sleeping when there were people around him making noise.

“Okay, what’s first?” Keith set the tablet in his lap so it would be easier to type on.

“Jaberwokian kippers, quite tasty, 4 cases, 30 units a case,” Coran told him, “why I remember once, King Alfor and I…”

* * *

It couldn’t have been more than 20 dobashes since Coran had sat Keith down. He hadn’t even gotten through the whole story, and it had been a good one, too. That hadn’t really been his goal, of course.

Keith was slumped against the wall, breathing quiet and even, the tablet in danger of sliding off his lap.

Coran rescued it, turning back on the automatic inventory logging system before putting it back in its holder near the door. Then he rescued Keith, lifting him up carefully in his arms and cradling him against his chest.

Keith stirred restlessly, a soft whimper escaping him and his arms wrapping instinctively around Coran’s neck.

“Alls well, my boy,” Coran murmured softly, keeping still while Keith shifted, “you’re safe and so is everyone else. You can sleep.”

“Don’t leave me,” Keith begged, voice slurred with sleep; he nuzzled his face into the crook of Coran’s neck, “please, I’ll be better.”

Coran felt dampness against his neck and pressed a kiss to the top of the boy’s head.

“None of that now,” Coran tightened his grip just a tad and headed out the door, “I’ll be keeping you close at hand until you’re well and rested. No need for you to do anything at all.”


End file.
